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Friday, September 25, 2015

Peace happens within us, but we need God's help. There is a wonderful mutuality. We need God to dwell within us, guiding us toward truth and love. And God longs for us, longs for us to turn to God and dwell in God's love.

Saint of the DayCatholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the Church honors responded to God's invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint. Click here for other saints celebrated on this date.

Born into a military family in Bordeaux, Louis trained to become a watchmaker. His desire to join a religious community went unfulfilled because he didn't know Latin. Moving to Normandy, he met the highly-skilled lacemaker, Zélie, who also had been disappointed in her attempts to enter religious life. They married in 1858, and over the years were blessed with nine children, though two sons and two daughters died in infancy.

Louis managed the lacemaking business that Zélie continued at home while raising their children. She died from breast cancer in 1877.

Louis then moved the family to Lisieux to be near his brother and sister-in-law, who helped with the education of his five surviving girls. His health began to fail after his 15-year-old daughter entered the Monastery of Mount Carmel at Lisieux in 1888. Louis died in 1894, a few months after being committed to a sanitarium.

The home that Louis and Zélie created nurtured the sanctity of all their children, but especially their youngest, who is known to us as St. Thérese of the Child Jesus. Louis and Zélie were beatified in 2008.

Comment:

In life Louis and Zélie knew great joy and excruciating sorrow. They firmly believed that God was with them throughout every challenge that married life, parenting, and their occupations presented.

Quote:

Therese once wrote, "God gave me a father and a mother more worthy of heaven than of earth."

Daily Prayer - 2015-09-25

Presence

I pause for a moment and reflect on God's life-giving presence in every part of my body, in everything around me, in the whole of my life.

Freedom

Lord, may I never take the gift of freedom for granted. You gave me the great blessing of freedom of spirit. Fill my spirit with Your peace and Your joy.

Consciousness

In God's loving presence I unwind the past day, starting from now and looking back, moment by moment. I gather in all the goodness and light, in gratitude. I attend to the shadows and what they say to me, seeking healing, courage, forgiveness.

The Word of God

In the second year of King Darius, on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: Tell this to the governor of Judah, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and to the high priest Joshua, son of Jehozadak, and to the remnant of the people:

Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem like nothing in your eyes? But now take courage, Zerubbabel, says the LORD, and take courage, Joshua, high priest, son of Jehozadak, And take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD, and work! For I am with you, says the LORD of hosts. This is the pact that I made with you when you came out of Egypt, And my spirit continues in your midst; do not fear! For thus says the LORD of hosts: One moment yet, a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, And I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. Mine is the silver and mine the gold, says the LORD of hosts. Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the LORD of hosts; And in this place I will give you peace, says the LORD of hosts!

R. (5) Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God. Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless people; from the deceitful and impious man rescue me. R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God. For you, O God, are my strength. Why do you keep me so far away? Why must I go about in mourning, with the enemy oppressing me? R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God. Send forth your light and your fidelity; they shall lead me on And bring me to your holy mountain, to your dwelling place. R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God. Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy; Then will I give you thanks upon the harp, O God, my God! R. Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God.

Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" They said in reply, "John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, 'One of the ancient prophets has arisen.'" Then he said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter said in reply, "The Christ of God." He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.

He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised."

- - -

Some thoughts on today's scripture

Note that Jesus prays before important moments in his ministry, as when he chose his twelve apostles. Was he consoled by the fact that, unlike Herod, the disciples recognise that he is the Messiah? Perhaps he had been wondering if he had failed to make himself known for who he was. But what will the disciples now make of his Passion?

In my prayer, I imagine Jesus asking me, 'Who do you say that I am?' What do I say? Do I believe that this mysterious Messiah of God will be with me even if, like him, I have to suffer greatly, and that in his own good time he will raise me up?

Conversation

Lord, I know that when I turn to you there is no need for words. You can see into my heart. You know my desires and you know my needs. I place myself into your hands.

Conclusion

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.

Meditation: Haggai 2:1-9

Think for a moment about all the different ways a parent talks to a child in the course of a day. In the morning, she may firmly tell her grumbling child, "Get up! It's time to go to school." But by the end of the day, that same child may be in tears, prompting the parent to encourage her child gently, "I am so proud of you for getting through this hard day. You're so strong!" All parents face a constant balancing act between pushing their children out of their comfort zones and offering them the encouragement and rest they need.

In today's first reading, we hear how God speaks to his children, the people of Jerusalem, who are rebuilding the Temple. At the start of the passage, he issues a firm command: "Work!" But a few verses later, he offers this gentle word of encouragement: "I am with you." He even promises them peace (Haggai 2:4, 9)! God knows that his children need both the firm command and the gentle reminder.

Like our children and like Judah, we, too, need God's loving correction and discipline as well as gentle reminders of his love for us. Sometimes, we need him to push us so that we can get back on track. But there are also times when we need to hear him reminding us of his love and compassion toward us.

Who we are and the work that we are doing are both very important to the Lord. We are his beloved children, and we can spend every day helping him to build something far greater than a place of worship. We can build his kingdom! Caring for our families and friends, helping the poor, serving in the Church; being responsible employees, taking time to talk to God each day in prayer—these are just a few examples of how we build God's kingdom, and God is delighted to see us busy doing them.

We are important to God, and so is what we are doing. With this in mind, we can take courage and work hard—because we know how deeply loved we are and that all our labor glorifies God.

"Father, thank you for giving me a role in establishing your kingdom. Help me to remember that I am building something glorious for you."

my2cents:Don't you ever feel like exclaiming to our Lord "God I Love You!"? Have you? Have you ever been so grateful? I know I just did when re-reading the first Holy Scripture "I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will come in, And I will fill this house with glory". Because as I explained in co-worker bible study, all the old Testament is made anew into Jesus. He takes all of the old and makes it new. Jesus has shaken all the nations and the treasures have come in and His Holy Church has been filled with Glory. The glory of the poor. Because there is no greater experience than to experience a life of humble poverty. Because Glory means giving guts. Because "Greater will be the future glory of this house than the former, says the LORD of hosts; And in this place I will give you peace, says the LORD of hosts!" And I didn't add that exclamation point to the Scripture verse we just read, it is from the Lord, an exclamation for the future from the point He died (gave glory to God) on the cross. The Psalms pray on "Hope in God; I will praise him, my savior and my God. Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight against a faithless people; from the deceitful and impious man rescue me." and "Then will I go in to the altar of God, the God of my gladness and joy". I heard a commercial for a cage fighting event or channel and at one point it said something like "all will converge and there at the center will be the altar". There with that blood and gore, sacrifice and glory is given to who? Who is all the attention paid to? Who is the focus of the entire event? Who is the focus of the channel? Where are they channeling your attention? Who is channeling your attention? What is an altar? Can you have an altar at your house? What's on it? What's on that table with lights? The TV? Is that what is paid most attention to in your home? What is that TV showing you? Do you spend more time with it than in prayer and service to the Lord? Yet...we have no time for the Lord...Jesus speaks to us today "...who do you say that I am?". Who is Jesus in your life? Who is God in your life? God has compassion on the poor, but is it just those without money? We should pay attention to the poor, they could be your life saving factor. Who do you say that the Lord is? WHO is He? I looked to the clouds yesterday evening, in conversation with the Lord and I remember saying "Lord, have mercy on us, all we have is Your Word" we don't know the things we get into. So since I don't hear from anyone of the couple hundred I write to, only one older man, a friend, a cursillista, a widower, a friend living in an "assisted living place" kind of like today's saint did, he writes back with a line or two, I am speaking into the wilderness with an inspiration from above. Since I can not hear from you, (let it by as the Lord desires), allow me to say who the Lord is in my life; LOL, as if I have not written enough, Jesus is asking us personally right now, "who do YOU say that I AM?". In my life, who is Jesus? Jesus is whom I strive to serve. Jesus is whom I strive to love. Jesus is whom I try to obey. Jesus is the focus of the greater part of my day, every day, thus...my life. In my day to day tasks at work, at home, and at Church, I try to stay open to Jesus and His grace. At 3pm, I try to remember the glorious moment He died for me...every day. When I wake up, I'm thinking how I will serve the Lord that day. And for as much as I do, I feel I do not do enough. Probably right, because, I feel inadequate in my love for Him. Like, I know I could love Him better. Who is Jesus to me? I can write about what I feel, but better yet, about what I know. If I tell you what I feel, maybe I'd tell you that I feel like an oddball, an anomaly in the world. I don't think people get me, and they get me all wrong. I look like a mean man, and past friends have said they'd never thought they'd be my friend until they met me. Me and my wife dressed up like old timey western folks at the fair couple weeks ago. I looked at the photo and thought "man that smirk on my face makes me look like I wouldn't hurt a fly!" And it's true, I feel even for the life of a fly that I kill. What does this have to say about Jesus? Everything. My life has been turned upside down by this great Man. This MAN is phenomenal. I saw my first glimpse of Him at my cursillo closing, the bread was a piece of meat on the Altar with Padre Andres holding Him up. Fast forward several years, I saw Him on the cross when I was zipped out of this world. Therefore, I am obssessed with my Father, Our Father. Our first Pope, St. Peter, had it right, that He is the Messiah, the Christ, the One who is to come! And so it is a bitter sweet affliction to know Christ as the oddball. On the one hand, I wish you knew Christ the way I've encountered Him, and on the other, I'm such a goof up for not being able to translate the message to pierce your heart. But I'm finding the way to the Way and I'm showing you the way in this part of the world. I have no hope if I have not Christ. To have Christ, (that is why Catholics have a crucifix), the one that redeemed by His Blood, Body, Soul, and Divinity, to have Christ is to have life. I see people differently with Christ, I see them with more love, charity, and mercy. I see the altars of the world to false gods, and it makes me wonder, how can we turn all those altars into altars for Christ? Help me figure it out. Because Christ let His hands and feet be nailed to the Cross to defeat death and sin so that in the meantime we could use our hands and feet to do what He can not do physically. Can you imagine the pain in His heart to not be able to do so Himself and even worse, the pain of seeing those sent into the world not doing it for Him? Look at the poor! Who is Jesus? Who do I say that He is? I've already explained, He is my Father, Our Father. I've explained that He is the Life, and I've explained that He is the way. What I can not explain is how come I can not love Him better, or more, like as if something is inhibiting a greater love. And that abandonment is the stretch worth dying for. Jesus, My Father, it is Friday, a day to give you Glory like no other. You stretched Yourself on that cross for us, set up high on that altar from the beginning of your revelation to mankind, help us in our confusion, help us in our deviation, help us in our journey, help us find a way to bring us back to You. Let it be the truth when I sing to you next time "You're all I want...You're all I've ever needed" and Lord, I pray for everyone reading these words from You, help them be saints, holy and pure, so that I can be like them and lead me to you...please Lord